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A Mini Fusion Reactor Just Reached Temperatures Hotter Than The Sun

A private company in the UK says it has successfully
tested its prototype nuclear fusion reactor at temperatures that are hotter
than the Sun – and hopes to start supplying energy in 2030.

Called Tokamak Energy, the company is based in
Oxfordshire, UK. Their nuclear fusion device is known as the ST40, and it’s the
third machine the company has created so far. Today the firm revealed that it
had achieved plasma temperatures of 15 million degrees Celsius (27 million
degrees Fahrenheit) inside the device.

“We are taking significant steps towards
achieving fusion energy, doing so with the agility of a private venture, driven
by the goal of achieving something that will have huge benefits worldwide,”
Jonathan Carling, the CEO of the company, said in an emailed statement.

“Reaching 15 million degrees is yet another
indicator of the progress at Tokamak Energy and a further validation of our
approach. Our aim is to make fusion energy a commercial reality by 2030.”

The company, which has raised $40 million to
date, says its small-scale approach is key to its goals. The ST40 is about the
size of a van, compared to much larger fusion reactors seen elsewhere, which
are anywhere from the size of a house to a football pitch.

To reach these high temperatures, the ST40
uses a process known as merging compression. This releases energy as rings of
plasma, which collide and produce magnetic fields that “snap” together, known
as magnetic reconnection.

There are two major designs for nuclear fusion
reactors, both with the aim of twisting magnetic fields and confining the
superheated plasma inside. A tokamak does this by being shaped like a donut and
using a large current to twist the plasma. The other design, a stellarator, is
shaped like a twisted donut to achieve the same effect.

Using a more compact design, Tokamak Energy
claims it can achieve higher plasma pressures than conventional tokamaks. It
aims to control the plasma with high-temperature superconducting magnets, and
eventually start producing useful energy.

Their first prototype, the ST25, was built in
2013. They built a second in 2015, and hope to later reach temperatures of 100
million degrees Celsius (180 million degrees Fahrenheit) in the ST40. In 2025
they hope to develop an industrial scale energy device, and in 2030 they hope
to start supplying energy to the grid from fusion.

Over the past few years there have been a
number of nuclear fusion breakthroughs, with different teams sustaining
hydrogen and helium plasmas for different amounts of time. We’re still a way
off useful nuclear fusion reactors, but it seems we’re taking steps in the
right direction.

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